Marty Verdugo Is 'A Minimum of 10 Years Away From Retirement'

After five seasons as girls basketball coach at , which included a two-year CIF Southern Section championship, Marty Verdugo to consider other opportunities. However, once he had taken a break following a , he realized there was no option he’d rather pursue and chose to return as both a teacher and coach.

Santa Monica Patch recently caught up with Verdugo to talk about his decision to return to Samohi.

Santa Monica Patch: What made you decide to come back?

Marty Verdugo: I took three weeks off after the season ended and decided to lay out what I really wanted to do. I realized that I had everything I wanted right in front of me. I wanted to stay at Santa Monica High School and pursue the passion that gets me out of bed at 4:30 every morning, and that’s basketball. I realized this was where I needed to be and where I wanted to be. Did I want to go on the recruiting trail and move up to the college level? No. Do I want to move to another school? No. Do I want to move over to the boys side? No. This is where I want to be.

Patch: When you look back on the season, how do you feel about what your team was able to accomplish?

Verdugo: There were a lot of ups and downs. I took a gamble and scheduled a very tough schedule. We played seven nationally ranked teams, three in the top five. I thought that would help us get more respect in the rankings. When you’re in the forest, you can’t see the forest for the trees. When I step back, I see how much we accomplished. That was monumental. But it was a tough journey getting there. We ended our season . With the exception of them, I think we were as good anyone, and they were the eventual national champions. That’s very satisfying.

Patch: What do you think of the team you will be bringing back next season?

Verdugo: We only bring back one starter in Briana [Harris], but we will have five seniors that have been with the program for a while. I look for the challenge of being lower on the radar again. We’ve created a buzz whenever you see Santa Monica on the schedule, but they’ll see that we graduated three Division I players and not expect us to be as strong. I look forward to the challenge of getting each to reach their potential. This is an amazing group of girls. The chemistry is unique because they’re all best friends. With this group, there’s already a strong bond, great leadership and hunger. I will enjoy watching them grow.

Patch: How long do you see yourself remaining at Samohi?

Verdugo: It was a career choice to come back. I’m a minimum of 10 years away from retirement. I’m not looking for anything else. If I’m here another 10 or 15 years, that’s fine with me. I like coming to work every morning, I like teaching basketball, and I love my school. I guess you can never say never, but I don’t see myself moving on.